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Special: Raul, The Real Madrid Legend
Subhankar Mondal charts the rise of Raul at Real Madrid...
03-Feb-2009 2:11:48 AM
He was born and bred as an Atletico supporter and would have played for the Rojiblancos, too, had a certain late Jesus Gil not come up with the brilliant idea to do away with the entire youth structure of the club.
He went onto represent Atletico's cross-city rivals Real and win six La Liga trophies, three European Cups, four Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Super Cup and two Intercontinental Cups. He's not done yet.
Since making his debut for Real Madrid in 1994, he has won the Pichichi twice and on Saturday scored his 307th goal for the club in all competitions, equalling the record set by club legend Alfredo di Stefano, who is consdered by many to be one of the greatest players of all time.
He hasn't played an international match since 2006 but is still his nation's highest goalscorer of all time. He has not been at his best in Europe for quite a number of years now but is the all time leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League.
The King Of Spain
Meet Raul Gonzalez Blanco, otherwise known as 'El Siete' (the No. 7) or 'El Angel del Madrid', the Atletico supporter who has gone onto become a Real Madrid legend. And not another had-two-great-seasons-and-became-great kind of a legend. A true legend. A symbol. An idol. An icon.
With all the records and silverware, Raul is a Spain and Real Madrid legend, a man who is respected and revered in equal measure in Madrid and in (most parts of) Spain. He has not been at his very best for a number of years now, but has still come through during numerous crunch situations, perhaps most notably at the back-end of last season.
On Saturday against Numancia, Raul scored his record equaling 307th goal for Madrid leading the Argentine legend himself to confidently speculate that he “can score 400 or 450 goals". The 31-year-old didn't do much in the game except score the goal, as he had done against Deportivo La Coruna the previous week, but his presence was nevertheless telling.
It was his ninth goal in the league this season and one that obligingly sustains Madrid's place in second behind runaway leaders Barcelona. But perhaps more crucially, that goal denotes that although he is past his prime and would possibly never be the player he was at the turn of the century, he still has the propensity to rack up goals and break records.
Raul has been playing professionally for Real Madrid all his life and there's little doubt his heart no longer has any trace of the red and has over time become pure white. His commitment and love towards the Madrid club - often seen as the representation proper of the Spanish State and centralism - is as contagious as his never-say-die attitude. He is not unlike former team-mate David Beckham in his ability to time and time again defy the odds, displaying true world class when it matters.
It was between 1998 and 2003 that Real Madrid were at their best (at least since all-conquering legends of the 1950s), and this new team was centred around a Raul at the peak of his powers. That tells you everything you need to know about the man, his ability and his influence.
The Hard Work And The Gentlemanliness
And then came the drought, for both Raul and Real Madrid, from 2003-2004 to 2005-2006 in which Raul managed 32 goals in all competitions - albeit hampered by injury in one season - and Madrid managed no major trophy during this time, either. But last season, prior to the European Championship, Raul felt rejuvenated and for the first time since the 2002-2003 season, the King of Spain managed to score more than 20 goals in a season, with Real winning their second successive league title in the process. His dry spell was as good as forgotten.
Not that Raul hadn't taken responsibility for his wretched form during that Galaticos era. At one point, he was even ready to leave the Bernabeu should his departure improve the form and the performance of the team.
In order to increase fitness levels, the striker even slept in an oxygen tent and has since exhibited incredible fitness. On top of that, under Fabio Capello in particular, he played in all kinds of positions to fill gaps in the team
But Raul, much to the credit of the man, has not complained. When Fabio Capello dropped him to the bench for a few matches in the second half of the 2006-07 season, he didn't replicate the “Have you no shame? I fought for you in Rome and this is how you repay me” speech made famous by Antonio Cassano. He instead helped them on their way to a 30th league title.
And when it was all but confirmed that he has been dropped for the European Championship in the summer, Raul made no attempt to join the nationwide campaign for his recall, despite it meaning he eventually missed out on his country's first trophy in 44 years, and only the second in their history.
The Ills
But then again, in spite of all the good that Raul represents there have been some 'ills'. During the second half of the Galacticos era when Raul, like his fellow Galacticos, was miserably off-colour and certainly didn't merit a place in the staring line-up week in, week out, he was still played because club president Florentino Perez, who is most likely to make a return to the White House's presidential seat this summer, wanted him to.
Then there is the nationalism. Raul has become somewhat infamous for his die-hard patriotism and it was even rumoured this caused division between many of the provincial players in the Spanish national team. Raul's Madrid-leaning politics too is seen by some as essentially a disuniting factor in the Spanish national squad, which was why Luis Aragones decided not to take him on board for the Euro 2008 finals, realising that Raul wouldn't fit either tactically or politically in his starting line-up and keeping him on the bench would be like asking God to stand in line and get an appointment with you.
Moreover, there were rumours in the summer in the Spanish press that suggested that it was Raul who had stopped the club from signing any striker because he didn't want any competition that was too strong. This perhaps might be a tad too difficult to digest, but cannot exactly be ruled out entirely either.
When all is said and done, the major chunk of this influence has been mostly for the good. Real Madrid are the biggest and most scrutinised club in the world and Raul is their badge and would be for at least five or six more years.
Subhankar Mondal, Goal.com
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